Let Love In

“Hey Emma,” I heard Cameron whisper in my ear. “Can you guess what today is?” I kept my eyes shut and moaned. It was obvious that it was early in the morning because Cameron would always wake up early. After what happened yesterday, I was extremely tired. When we got back to our room after our late night swim, it was already 12:30. If I was correct, right now it was around 6:15 in the morning. I was not in the mood to get up.

“What?” I moaned, turning my body so my back was facing him.

“It’s Friday! That means tour officially starts tomorrow.” He jumped on my bed and ripped the sheets off of me, expecting me to join him in all the excitement. With my eyes still closed, I took the sheets and wrapped around me like was before Cameron took it.

“That’s great, but I’m going back to bed.”

“No, you aren’t.” And just like that, Cameron pulled the sheets away from me leaving me with just a pillow. I got up from my bed and walked over to his bed that still had his blanket and pillow. Didn’t think of that, did you Cameron? “Oh, come on Emma. I need someone to run with me.”

“Go with Nathan or something. I’m sure he’d love to go,” I mumbled.

“He already left 5 minutes ago. Can you go with me, please?” I opened my eyes, his face nearly inches away from mine. His green eyes captivated me, making me melt a little.

“Fine,” I huffed while getting out of his bed. If it weren’t for his eyes, I would’ve said no. But no, his eyes had to be green and not some other color. I grabbed my stuff and went to the bathroom to get ready.

Once we were set, we left our hotel room and went off into the Santa Monica air. The sun hadn’t quite risen yet, but just by the looks of the reflection on the ocean, it would come up anytime soon. Not many people were up, just the occasional dog walkers and fellow runners and walkers. Local stores were fixing up their store, preparing themselves for customers who would later appear in the day. With every minute that passed, the sun was closer and closer to rising.

After a good 30 minutes, Cameron and I decided to sit down on a bench to give us a chance to catch our breath. We faced the ocean, watching the sunrise as it glowed once it appeared.

“It’s beautiful,” he said in between breaths. I nodded my head in agreement, too mesmerized by the scenery to even reply. There was something special about sunrises and sunsets. They reminded us that a day is starting or a day is ending. Not a single sunrise or sunset was imperfect. The colors and its reflection are always breathtaking.

My thoughts were interrupted when Cameron asked me a question. “Emma,” he called, “why did you seem upset the day I picked you up to meet the guys?”

Damn, I thought he forgot about it. I guess there’s no way out of this. It was bound to come up sooner or later. I sighed, trying to find the right words to start off with. “Perfection is something that I’ve always tried to reach, but never could. I never intended on trying to reach it, but I can’t help but try once people point out my mistakes. And it hurts to think about it because I know it’ll never happen, but other people can’t see to get it through their head. Their constant remarks bring me down and I can never bring myself back up because of them.” I couldn’t look at him, knowing that his expression would only hurt me more. I gazed at the sunrise, wishing it could just take me away.

Cameron placed his hand on top of mine and gave it a good squeeze. I took my gaze off the sunrise, glanced out our hands and then at him. “Nothing can be perfect. Perfection is something that is nonexistent. Those people who put you down by stating your mistakes don’t realize this. You need to let their remarks pass you. You may not be perfect, but you’re something better: you’re Emma Love, the girl who is slowly learning to take a chance and open herself to the world so they can see the beauty that you can’t see either. I hate to see you this way, so don’t ever let them get inside your head.”

That’s what I loved about him. His words of positivity made everything better. “Thanks Cam, you always know what to say.” The corners of his mouth tugged into a smile as he wrapped his arms around me, giving me a hug.

As we headed back to our hotel, I stopped for a second to admire the amusement park on the pier.

“We could go later today, if you want,” he said.

“Sounds like a plan to me,” I replied. Little did I know was that this plan would somehow set me up for a surprise I would’ve never expected.



“Woo!” Nathan cheered. “Amusement parks are the best!”

We were on our way to Pacific Park, the amusement park on the Santa Monica pier that I saw early in the morning. The guys decided to tag along and join our adventure. The sun had just set, and the lights in the amusement park were so bright, that it would be hard to miss if you were looking from far away.

“We are definitely going on the rollercoaster first,” Zach demanded.

We walked towards the rollercoaster and waited in line. While waiting, Michael was eating cotton candy which I thought wasn’t the smartest idea.

“Don’t think it’s not that smart of you to eat something before going on a rollercoaster?” I stated.

“Psh, please,” he continued to eat the pink fluff of candy. “I’ve got a stomach made of steel. The rollercoaster can’t take over me, I take over it.”

Cameron poked his stomach, making him bend forward a little. “Oh yeah, you totally have a stomach made of steel,” he said sarcastically.

Michael stuffed another piece in his mouth in front of his face. “Just because of that, I’m not sharing my cotton candy with you.”

Once we reached the front of the line, we finally got onto the rollercoaster. To my surprise, Michael was completely fine once we got off. I guess we underestimated him.

“I told you!” He told us repeatedly while doing his happy dance.

Zach rolled his eyes playfully and asked, “Where are we going next?”

“I say we play a couple of games,” Nathan suggested.

“Sounds good to–”

“You guys can go ahead. Emma and I are going on the ferris wheel.”

“Alright, call us later so we can meet up.” And so they left as merging into the crowd of people.

The ferris wheel was really nice. Even though Cameron and I were silent while on it, the silence was calming.

After riding the ferris wheel, Cameron and I walked around for a while, played a couple of games and later walked on the boardwalk. Not many people were there since they were in the amusement park.

I leaned on the railing, gazing at the ocean as it crashed onto the shore. I could hear the distant voices of people talking and the ocean moving. Nature was, in fact, beautiful.

“What’s that?” Cameron pointed to my ring finger on my left hand.

“Oh, it’s a heart.” I answered. I lifted my hand, showing him the heart I had drawn on the fingertip of my ring finger.

“But why is it there?”

“They say that it’s the only finger connected to our heart,” I explained. “Plus, I wanted to find a place to draw a heart other than the palm of my hand. That’s so typical. Here, I’ll draw you one.” I took his hand and took out a pen from my pocket. We both looked down as I held onto his hand and drew half of the heart on his fingertip. He looked up at me, smiling. I smiled back and continued to draw the rest of the heart. “There you go,” I said as I placed my pen back in my pocket.

“Thanks,” he looked at it, admiring the perfect shape. Just then, we heard a loud bang followed by a couple more. We looked and saw fireworks appear in the black sky as if it was being painted onto a dark canvas. The colors kept my eyes glued to it that I almost forgot Cameron was beside me. All of a sudden, I felt his warm hands cup face. His soft lips came in contact with mine in one swift movement. His lips were warm against mine and his passion truly showed. I knew that I should have pulled away, but I just couldn’t. I was in too deep and I knew that if I didn’t let go now, the emotions would continue to grow.